Drew Lock #3 of the Missouri Tigers fumbles the ball as he is hit by Josh Allen #41 of the Kentucky Wildcats in the fourth quarter at Memorial Stadium on October 29, 2016 in Columbia, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)Getty Images

NBC Sports’ Peter King outlined a scenario where the Arizona Cardinals select Oklahoma QB Kyler Murray first overall, leaving Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins and Kentucky edge rusher Josh Allen among the best players available when the tGiants go on the clock at No. 6:

A veteran personnel man who knows Dave Gettleman said the other day, “Dave wants a pass-rusher in the worst way. He won’t reach for one, but he’ll get one with one his first three picks.” Giants pick 6-17-37, and if they have their heart set on one of the young quarterbacks—Gettleman, as usual, has been a good poker-player here, because even those who know him do not know which quarterback he likes—they should be able to get him at 17. Or, perhaps, if they play their cards right, to trade back up into the low first round with that fifth pick in the second round as bait. (The Rams would love to dump out of the 31st pick.) One other thing Gettleman would figure to love in Allen: No top-prospect rusher is more experienced: He played in 51 college games.

If Allen, a Montclair native, is on the board for the Giants, it is difficult to envision Gettleman passing on him. Especially if Houston’s Ed Oliver, Alabama’s Quinnenn Williams, Ohio State’s Nick Bosa and Murray are already gone.

Allen, 6-foot-5 and 265 pounds, produced 17 sacks as a junior and collected 42 tackles for loss over three seasons as a starter. He is widely regarded as one of the top defensive prospects in a strong class of pass rushers.

Bolstering a defense that produced the league’s second-fewest sacks last season, blew several second-half leads and was ranked 19th overall, is top draft priority for the Giants.

King also has the Giants trading back from No. 17 to No. 23 with the Houston Texans and acquiring pick 55 in the deal. Gettleman admitted Thursday that sitting between pick No. 37 in the second-round and pick No. 95 in the third-round, would be difficult because of how deep he believes this class is.

With the pick acquired from the Texans, King projects that the Giants take Duke quarterback Daniel Jones.

Under this scenario, Gettleman believes that Allen has a higher ceiling as a pass rusher than Haskins does as a quarterback and that Jones has a brighter NFL future.

If this, or a similar scenario, is how Thursday night plays out, Gettleman better be right.